I love when tiny dogs try to be angry, like, you're not scaring anyone. Pedro barks at the birds in the garden but the one time one flew down to challenge him he coyly backed away with his tail between his legs.

Thank you! I'm still coming to terms with the fact that she has no Dachshund DNA.

I was actually thinking about Pepper's unexpected breed results the other day! We had this dog at the shelter a few months ago. He was about 50 lbs and everyone who saw him thought he was a pit bull mix. His adopter decided to do the DNA breed test.

He is 50% rat terrier! And the rest is German Shepherd, Rottweiler, and boxer. And some potential adopters didn't even want to consider him because "he looks like a pit bull". It's amazing how inaccurate visual breed identification can be!

Thank you! I'm still coming to terms with the fact that she has no Dachshund DNA.

I was actually thinking about Pepper's unexpected breed results the other day! We had this dog at the shelter a few months ago. He was about 50 lbs and everyone who saw him thought he was a pit bull mix. His adopter decided to do the DNA breed test.

He is 50% rat terrier! And the rest is German Shepherd, Rottweiler, and boxer. And some potential adopters didn't even want to consider him because "he looks like a pit bull". It's amazing how inaccurate visual breed identification can be!

Wow I would have never guessed rat terrier! My boyfriend's grandmother purchased a Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluzin in Spain late last year, I'm not sure if they're the same as Rat Terrier but with a fancy Spanish name or if they're entirely different but he is so quick and has such an odd temperament! This fella looks super sweet though, don't see why anyone would wanna pass up that smile! But I guess he kind of looks like a pit, I see the square head from the boxer, he definitely got the coat from that gene too

I've seen these people there before once, and the dog was super terrified and the owners were dragging him around the park. (The man came up to me and said creepily "Your dog matches your outfit.") ...This time the dog wasn't scared, but was growling and anger-barking at the gate, so the woman had to come over and attempt to catch the dog (unfruitfully). Eventually the dog was far enough away that I let Mavis in, but then the dog made a beeline for her and they had a little scuffle before going about their business. I'd bought Mavis a Chuck-It stick because chasing balls is her jam. I had just flung the ball and was waiting for her to bring it back when the woman's dog lunged at me and bit me in the thigh.

The woman told me it was because I was carrying around the Chuck-It stick. No apology. No "Oh shiitake, my dog just bit someone. Better go!" Nothing. Just you know, I shouldn't have had a thing in my hand if I didn't want to get bitten. Okay, got it. She acted like it was no big deal and nothing happened.

I've seen these people there before once, and the dog was super terrified and the owners were dragging him around the park. (The man came up to me and said creepily "Your dog matches your outfit.") ...This time the dog wasn't scared, but was growling and anger-barking at the gate, so the woman had to come over and attempt to catch the dog (unfruitfully). Eventually the dog was far enough away that I let Mavis in, but then the dog made a beeline for her and they had a little scuffle before going about their business. I'd bought Mavis a Chuck-It stick because chasing balls is her jam. I had just flung the ball and was waiting for her to bring it back when the woman's dog lunged at me and bit me in the thigh.

The woman told me it was because I was carrying around the Chuck-It stick. No apology. No "Oh shiitake, my dog just bit someone. Better go!" Nothing. Just you know, I shouldn't have had a thing in my hand if I didn't want to get bitten. Okay, got it. She acted like it was no big deal and nothing happened.

It didn't break the skin, but I do have a giant purple bruise.

Oy I'm sorry Hollie. That's so scary.

Harley got into a thing with a dog at the dog park last week. This dog has attacked him twice, and he ran for his life the first two times. The third time he tried to stand up for himself, and when the other dog's owner decided to stick his hand right in the middle to break them up (Who DOES THAT, ALWAYS PULL THE LEGS) it ended up in Harley's mouth. No skin was broken nor is there any mark. But he was all "WATCH YOUR DOG. APPARENTLY HE'S A BITER!" To which I was really tempted to respond "well yeah, if you stick your hand in his mouth, it'll be in his mouth" but didn't. I kept Harley far away from other dog at the park for a few days, and yesterday we decided to let them approach each other. They seem to have completely forgotten about the altercation, and the other guy's dog even came right up to me for pats, which Harley seemed to approve of. So apparently whatever they exchanged words over has passed...although we'll still be keeping an eye on them when they share space.

_________________"Peace is not something we do. It is something we are"

I'm feeling super bummed today because I found out my mother has been talking to people about how my dog is (was, he's on a prescription meaty diet now) vegan and that she thinks it's responsible for his seizures. Actually, she got it wrong anyway, he ate a commercial vegan kibble and wet food but got dairy and egg scraps from my husband and occasionally meaty treats. But yeah, mainly veg. She keeps suggesting that we send our dog to her while we're away on vacation and I realized it was because she thinks she could "fix" him by overloading him on steaks. Last year when she visited she told me I was poisoning him with phenobarbital and that my selfishness was responsible for his illness. Now everything has clicked about where that came from. She was on some online forum that had nothing to do with canine health but she posted a thread about how I have a vegan (wrong) dog and the Internet mob came along calling me an idiot and that she should call animal protection on me because I'm an animal abuser.

I know his seizures have nothing to do with me. His vet said it's genetic and I can tell from his behaviors that it's Parkinson's-like but I still was full of anxiety last night and stayed up the whole night googling. His food was fully supplemented so it's not like he has a b12 deficiency and his blood work has always been perfect. But still. I feel like a major shitball right now and also super betrayed by her.

I know there are a few people on here who are anti- vegan dogs. I'm not interested in having that discussion.

I'm feeling super bummed today because I found out my mother has been talking to people about how my dog is (was, he's on a prescription meaty diet now) vegan and that she thinks it's responsible for his seizures. Actually, she got it wrong anyway, he ate a commercial vegan kibble and wet food but got dairy and egg scraps from my husband and occasionally meaty treats. But yeah, mainly veg. She keeps suggesting that we send our dog to her while we're away on vacation and I realized it was because she thinks she could "fix" him by overloading him on steaks. Last year when she visited she told me I was poisoning him with phenobarbital and that my selfishness was responsible for his illness. Now everything has clicked about where that came from. She was on some online forum that had nothing to do with canine health but she posted a thread about how I have a vegan (wrong) dog and the Internet mob came along calling me an idiot and how she should call animal protection on me.

I'm not in a good headspace to reply to this reasonably. So I'm going to be super angry on your behalf and send you an e-hug.

I am with everyone in that that makes me incredibly angry, and I would like to hug you and your pup. You are a loving dog-mom who is giving your dog all the proper care and nurturing, and just because you don't do with a pile of steaks doesn't mean you aren't doing it right. Wrath and vengeance upon all who would disagree >:(

I've had lots of strangers telling me how to raise/train my pup, and I had to stiffly and angrily disengage from the guy who kept insisting that I was going to HAVE to get a choke collar for my dog and it's really the only way to train them properly. I can't even imagine the rage and betrayal I'd feel if that negativity were coming from family!

_________________Your heart is a muscle the size of a fistKeep loving, keep fighting

I'm super bummed and stressed because our pet sitter is not working out.

Our pup is old and has seizures and a potential slipped disk, so he needs a lot of meds. The sitter is kind of a bundle of nerves but she was literally the only person in this area who had availability. She's sat for us before so I figured she'd be capable enough. Anyway, we went out of town for 5 days and he needed a bunch of pills administered 2x/day and she just could. not. handle. it. Our pup is kinda clever and can tell when pills are hidden in food so you just have to be more clever than the dog. Like, he will inadvertently bite into the whatever the pill's hidden in because he has tremors that make his jaw clench. So you have to make sure it's hidden well enough that he can't bite through and taste the pill or get him excited enough about the food that he gulps it down. It's not that hard, if you're experienced with dogs. She wasn't hiding the pill well so he got suspicious and started refusing to take anything from her. She couldn't force the pills down because he was snapping at her holding him down. She got super stressed and was calling me several times a day to ask for advice, which sucked because we were in the middle of nowhere, Canada so it used up a bunch of my international plan and the reception was sucky to non-existent. She was super frantic and was like blaming me for her problems over the phone, and I felt so stressed because I was worried Rhodie was going to die from seizures! I was also really, really freaking sick and I lost my voice so it was almost impossible for me to talk.

Anyway, she left me kind of a cowardly note when we got back saying we needed to talk, and I think she's going to quit. Which is actually fine with me, we were so fed up with her service that we were going to stop working with her anyway, but now I have to find a new sitter for future trips and the situation has left a bad taste in my mouth. Actually, the whole trip was really stressful and I feel like I have PTSD from the experience. :(